1. DeborahSampson
IndomitableWoman
&
Revolutionary
Soldier
Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760 to parents of
distinguished pilgrim heritage. Her mother came from the lines of William
Bradford, once Governor of Plymouth Colony; her father a descendant of
Myles Standish, Military leader of the Pilgrims. In spite of this proud heritage
the Sampson house was quite impoverished. After her father set sail and
never returned, Deborah's mother, unable to provide for her 7 children, was
forced to have them fostered. Deborah was sent to live with an Aunt that died
abruptly thereafter. She spent a short while in the house of the widow of
Reverend Peter Thatcher before she was bonded into the care of Deacon
Benjamin Thomas.
Working the Thomas' Farm was great toil but it made Deborah strong and
capable. In winter there was little enough to do that she could attend school,
which she did dutifully. In the seasons of hard labor, when the day's work was
done, she would always probe the Thomas boys to relay their days studies,
whom found her an apt pupil. At 18 Deborah's term of indenture in the
Thomas house ended. She supported herself teaching school during summer
sessions and weaving in the winter. It was not an easy life. It was almost

2. impossible for a woman to live independently at the time. Jobs given to
women were few. Even the idea of an Independent Woman at the time was
scandalous.
From the time she was a very small girl Deborah had something different
about her. She was her Grandmother's favorite. Deborah was very bright and
loved to hear her grandmother'sFrench accent detailing the exploits of Joan of
Arc. When she was in the Thomas house she worked all day and studied all
night. She talked politics and hunted. She could shoot about as well as any of
the 10 Thomas boys. When the news reached her that 2 of Deacon Thomas'
sons had been killed in battle her heart swelled with zeal. The thought of
findinga way to join the fight for Independencerooted itself deeply, “my mind
became agitated with the enquiry-why a nation, separated from us by an
ocean . . .[should] enforce on us plans of subjugatio n.” She resolved “to
become one of the severest avengers of the wrong” But only a man could
enlist…
She had grown up in boys clothes. As it was customary to dress when working
the farm. She shot with the boys. So she knew she could handle a weapon. She
was lean broad and well muscled. As would become of anyone laboring on a
farm. She could sew. So she fashioned herself a suit well fitted to a 5'8", broad
shouldered, lean muscled, pure hearted, pure bread, American Male. She
trimmed and shellacked her hair back, fitted herself in a binding intended to
hide telling curves, fashioned her well fitted suit… and went to visit her
mother.
When her mother failed to recognize her she believed she had perfected the
ruse and determined to enlist.
She went straight away and signed as 'Timothy Thayer of Carver' at a local
muster but failed to report for duty after being brought under suspicion by a
local Mrs. Wood, "Thayer holds the quill with his finger in that funny position,
like Deborah Sampson!" What ensued was a fiasco of gossip, finger-pointing,
and pious gasps culminating in Deborah's excommunication from her Baptist
congregation.

3. Undeterred, if not with increasing resolve, Deborah climbed back into her
britches and set off to enlist again, down the road a bit, out of the eyeshot of
the local spinsters. On May 20, 1782, she successfully enlisted in the army as
'Robert Shurtliff' the name of her deceased brother, on the muster of Master
Noah Taft of Uxbridge. From there she was assigned to the Light Infantry
Company of the 4th Massachusetts Regimen.
Robert Shurtliff was the most dutiful of soldiers, noted for strength and
bravery. He showed great Valor when faced with the enemy who were often
enough fellow country men. Robert was wounded on several occasions in
skirmishes involving Tory irregulars. It was Guerrilla Warfare.
Guerrilla Warfare tactics, learned in large part from the Native American
Aborigines, honed by some in the French-Indian wars, and coupled with their
familiarity with the land had been the only advantage the colonist had in the
war. Now the Tory insurgents were using these same tactics to target
Revolutionary regulars. Robert was a courageous volunteer for every small
detachment, every sortie, every raid, flinching off his small wounds gallantly.
Then, in a particularly rough skirmish, Robert takes the slash of a Tory blade
across his skull opening up a large sanguinary gouge.
In Robert's first and only Field battle, on July 3, 1782, outside Tarrytown, New
York, he took two musket balls. History disagrees weather there was one in
the thigh and one in the shoulder or two in the thigh. History then debates
that Deborah in fear of having her secret revealed diverted the doctor to the
older injury on her brow and away from more telling injuries. History is pretty
sure that she then removed or at least attempted to remove one of the lodged
musket balls herself. What history does agree on is her botched efforts never
healed appropriately and she was hobbled for the rest of her life.

4. Some Histories say that after the Treaty of Paris had been signed a number of
troops were sent marching to Philadelphia to quell an insurgence of rogue
Tories. Robert was amongst the assigned. There was no fighting left to be
done by the time his regiment had arrived. It seemed that Robert Shurtliff
would survive the Revolution and his secret would never be revealed. But an
ominous endemic would soon sweep through the Philadelphia encampment.

5. It was a "malignant fever" that finally vanquished Robert Shurtliff. He was
somewherebetween delirium and comatose when Dr. Binney, of Philadelphia,
treating the near fatal fever, discovered Robert's binding wraps.
The good Doctor was admirably discrete and removed the dutiful soldier to
his own home and left her under the care of his wife.
Having recovered the dutiful soldier was dispatched under order to carry a
letter to General George Washington, a letter in the pen of Dr. Binney.
Even knowing the terrible consequences that faced her, the dutiful soldier
Robert Shurtliff hand delivered the dispatch. She waited trembling and sick
with anticipation, nervously sipping at the refreshments offered. When the
General invited her in he handed her Discharge papers, a hand written note
with some heartfelt advise and enough money in her pocket to see her home.
The War had been Won!
Robert Shurtliff was honorably discharged from service on October 23, 1783
by General Henry Knox.
The General Court of Massachusetts in validation the service of Deborah
Sampson extolled her valor, recording that she "exhibited an extraordinary
instance of female heroism by discharging the duties of a faithful gallant
soldier, and at the same time preserving the virtue and chastity of her sex,
unsuspected and unblemished"
On April 7, 1785 she married Benjamin Gannet, from Sharon. Together they
had three children; Earl, Polly, and Patia. She would resume her life as a
Teacher, Mother, Weaver, and 5'8", broad shouldered, lean muscled, pure
hearted, pure bread, American Woman.
Through periods in her life she would do tours and lecture circuits, donning
her military uniform, demonstrating meticulous drills with precision and
regaling audiences with the true adventures of:

6. Deborah
Sampson
IndomitableWoman
&
Revolutionary
Soldier